Last September I took a SCUBA certification course, and I loved it. Being under the water, feeling weightless and doing something that was just so cool. I am also very comfortable in the water, so it wasn't a tough transition for me to get into it.

Fast forward to January, 2012. Through our friends at "Scubatech" here in Grenada, I bought a new regulator and dive computer. This is the dive shop I took my course with, and have since become friends with. I was chatting with Jochen, who owns and operates the shop with his wife Sabine and Carsten, about the idea of going farther with my diving. I didn't mean just doing a Nitrox course and the Advanced course, but possibly as a Dive Master or Instructor.

Today we discussed it farther, and I have to admit, it looks darned good. Studying with them would also teach me many other skills not normally part of the course, like filling tanks and becoming proficient at fixing dive gear. The downside is that I would essentially have a full time job for a while, which would make boat work a little harder for me to do, and would leave much of it to Ken.

Ken and I discussed it, and he agreed that this would be a very good chance to increase my life skills... and potentially help the cruising kitty at some point. So now we have another reason to choose to stick around longer. I have 5 courses to take, and another 50-odd dives to get under my belt before I can be a Dive Master...

We've pretty much settled in for this winter to enjoy the relative coolness here in Grenada to get the pile of boat jobs lowered, and to get some of the extra "stuff" off the boat so we can find more breathing space. Now we have another reason to stick around. This may not be "cruising", per se, but it is still a darned good lifestyle. And man, am I going to get some GREAT diving in!

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